


Beds for Dragons

by qwanderer



Series: Midnight Mystery [22]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Documentary, Dragons, F/M, Gen, Politics, Script Format, Technobabble, golden apples
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 06:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwanderer/pseuds/qwanderer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The transcripts of the groundbreaking documentary by Darcy Lewis on the plight of the Asgardian dragon and what humans can do to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beds for Dragons

_Darcy Lewis, in addition to being an Avenger and sorceress, has a master's degree in political anthropology and has published many articles on the cultural differences between Earth and the other known worlds, Asgard in particular. She also runs a popular blog where she posts pictures of her life with the Avengers and her opinions on many political issues._

_This is her first film._

(Opening shot: 3 year old Daire Sifdottir Rogers, recognizable as the daughter of Captain America, playing with three small dragons. They're building a castle out of colorful plastic snap-together blocks and chatting a mile a minute about the design.) 

**Darcy Lewis:** On film you can't make out what the dragons are saying, because dragons are one of a number of species in the Nine Realms that have an ability called Allspeak. It's a rudimentary form of telepathy, and it means they can talk to any other sentient being and be understood. But for dragons, it isn't that simple. 

(Stark Tower: Prince Thor Odinson and Darcy Lewis sit across from each other.) 

**Lewis:** So, Thor, tell me about what you learned about dragons while you were growing up. 

**Thor Odinson:** Dragons are one of the many intelligent species which I was taught were good for nothing but slaughtering. I have killed many of the creatures in my lifetime, and I now deeply regret it. 

(Asgard: a triumphantly displayed, jewel-encrusted dragon skeleton, Thor walking around it and examining it.) 

**Thor:** These are the remains of my first dragon kill, seven hundred years ago. My victory over this dragon was much praised by my father the king and by the court. I now know and have spoken with many of her sons and daughters. They were desperate for gold and after her death, many of them did not fare well. The only apology I can make now is to return these bones to her children. (unintelligible) 

**Lewis:** Prince Thor has painstakingly learned English so that he can be recorded and understood even when Allspeak is not in effect. But occasionally he'll be overcome by emotion and return to the language he's spoken for the last thousand years. I often don't notice, since, being in his presence, I can still understand him. Here, he's expressing anger about the less accepting aspects of the Asgardian culture he was raised in. 

(Asgard: a blue-scaled dragon flies low over a lake in front of a sunset.) 

**Lewis:** Dragons have lived on Asgard as long as, maybe longer than the Aesir. Their oral history has stories of the times before Aesir came to their lands to mine gold, when their caves and tunnels were surrounded by the land's natural veins and deposits. At the time, they didn't understand the significance of the shining yellow mineral, but as it disappeared to feed the thirst of the Aesir, the dragons found themselves dying. 

(The blue dragon, Hallkatla, watches over her three children as they play with Daire Rogers. Behind her is a largish hoard of gold.) 

**Lewis:** Hallkatla. Do you think Aesir and dragons will ever be able to live in peace? 

**Hallkatla (dubbed):** I have grave doubts. It's not something I ever thought I could have believed in. But meeting Prince Thor and his new friends from Midgard was extraordinary, to the point of surreal. I think they mean well. I doubt they will succeed in so completely changing how things work on this world. 

**Lewis:** What's the biggest factor that convinced you to be part of this new diplomatic initiative? 

**Hallkatla:** Sif and Steven trust me with their child. They love her a great deal. And they allow her here. That is what tells me that they see dragons as people, and not as monsters. 

(Sif Rogers, Steve Rogers and their young daughter Daire sit together in their home on Asgard. Daire sits on Steve's lap. Wood, metal and tile are all prominent in the architecture of the room.) 

**Lewis:** So tell me about the cultural significance of gold. 

**Sif (dubbed):** Gold is a material that we use extensively, in our architecture, wardrobes, and wherever it is practical to incorporate. It is more than a status symbol, as it might be on Earth, since no Aesir's home would feel complete without a significant amount of it. Before I spoke to the dragons, I never thought to question why this was. 

**Steve:** I never noticed anything like that before I became an Asgardian citizen. Of course I wouldn't have had much opportunity, growing up during the Depression, but after I moved into Stark Tower and started spending so much time with Iron Man, I think I would have noticed something like that. The suit actually has more gold in it than iron. But now I definitely sleep better if there's some gold nearby. It doesn't bother me if there isn't any except my ring, not like it does the dragons, but there is a difference. 

**Lewis:** Daire, do you feel better around gold? Where do you sleep best? 

**Daire:** I like the 'partment; it has pictures and Javvie. 

**Steve:** She'll wake up in the middle of the night when we're here and come find us. At our place in Stark Tower, she'll talk to Jarvis instead, then go right back to sleep. There's no gold anywhere near her room there. 

**Lewis:** Do you agree with the dragons that it has something to do with the apples? 

**Steve:** Yes. It's the only factor that makes sense that applies to me and not Daire. The apples are just a part of the diet here, for most purposes, but they're not given to children. 

(Asgard: Idunn's orchard, the sun shining on the golden apples.) 

**Lewis:** The apples, which Aesir eat to lengthen their lifespans, do actually contain a layer of gold in their skins. How and why they work is still very much a mystery, but there are a few people who Prince Thor trusts enough to study them without abusing their power. 

(New York: Stark Tower R&D facility; Jane Foster and Bruce Banner are present.) 

**Bruce Banner:** The apples seem to bear some similarities with the Super Soldier Serum that changed Steve Rogers and myself, but they're also very different. 

**Jane Foster:** When the gold enters the body, it seems to gravitate to certain areas and anchor itself there, and we _think_ that it may serve as a catalyst for some kind of reaction, one that provides energy for an altered metabolism that is both faster and slower than a normal human's. 

**Banner:** That kind of high but lasting metabolization is standard for both subjects of the Serum tests, and, from what data I've been able to gather, both Aesir and dragons. But the residents of Asgard don't have the complex regulation and compensation methods that were built into the Serum formula. 

**Foster:** What they _do_ have is magic, or in other words, a tap into the energy of a parallel dimension. But that energy isn't in a form that can be naturally metabolized. In fact, it's mostly radiation of the kinds that are considered dangerous to humans, at very low levels unless they're actively using their magic for something. 

**Banner:** So in essence, we theorize that dragons have evolved to live in gold-rich areas so that the energy that they naturally emit as part of their magic can be transformed into a useful form, rejuvenating them and supporting their unregulated metabolisms. 

**Foster:** What the Aesir did when they bred the apples was create a mechanism inside their bodies that stopped their metabolic dependency on the presence of gold in their surroundings. 

**Lewis:** So what you're saying is, if dragons were allowed to eat these special apples, they wouldn't need gold anymore either? 

**Foster:** Theoretically. But the political situation on Asgard is still way too hostile for us to be able to test that anytime soon. We've needed to develop interim solutions. 

(A random shot of gold bricks) 

**Lewis:** There are all kinds of scientific, social and political angles that need to be addressed, but there's also a purely economic factor. Stark Industries' marketing geniuses have gone a long way towards changing that landscape. 

(New York: Tony Stark and Pepper Potts sit in Pepper's office, the heart of Stark Industries.) 

**Tony Stark:** Regardless of the losses we took when that alien lunatic decided to come and use my resort as his own personal battleground, the Stark Vistas resort has been, and continues to be, extremely profitable. Without the cost-per-pound restrictions of other proposed moon bases, it's barely more expensive to run and repair than any resort on Earth. 

**Pepper Potts:** Well, and by that we mean that it's two to three times the cost. 

**Stark:** But it makes more than ten times the profit. Point is, I'm not afraid of the tough projects. 

**Lewis:** Well, obviously. But talk to me about this new project and the challenges you've encountered so far. 

**Stark:** Mini Midgard is, essentially, a theme park based in Asgard, to give Aesir the opportunity to experience some things from modern Earth that they might not otherwise see. 

**Potts:** It's set up as a nonprofit, since its main goal is to establish a legitimate economic flow of currency from the established Asgardian economy to the native society of dragons. All gold collected by Mini Midgard merchants goes straight to the dragons in direst need of the essential mineral. In exchange, the dragons allow us to photograph, study, and interview them, and we'll be exploring several other avenues for dragons to contribute to the operation and offset the cost of goods and services coming from Earth. 

**Lewis:** So what's it like? 

(Asgard: Part of Mini Midgard is shown. It looks very much like a mall food court. Neon signs are spelled in runes.) 

**Stark:** Capitalism at its best. (Stark laughs.) We had two goals in mind when we chose the basic format. One, we wanted to use tried and tested methods to move product. And two, we wanted an authentic experience of Earth culture, not just in terms of the products consumed, but in how people go about getting them. It might not look all that impressive to humans, but for Aesir, that setting is just as exotic as a rennaisance faire is for the average American. 

(A transaction is filmed, with a man in armor paying three gold coins for several pizzas. The coins are weighed and change is given in silver.) 

**Potts:** The main difference is the currency paid for the merchandise. Although many merchants on Asgard accept weights of gold, silver and uru, and on occasion trade in gems, Mini Midgard merchants accept payments only in gold weight. 

**Lewis:** So how do you get so many Earth products onto Asgard? 

**Stark:** Well, at first we were importing pretty much everything, mainly pre-packaged snack foods and tropical fruits. Steve'd take huge sacks of them when he commuted up that way by Bifrost. Looked like a very American Santa Claus. There's all these annoying restrictions on when humans can visit Asgard, and, much more often, when they can't, so it was pretty much Steve, Jane, and anyone they could recruit and train onsite. Now that it's bigger and more popular, we've had several of the Aesir vendors come down to Earth for training in how to make authentic Midgardian fast food. (Stark laughs.) Let me tell you, it is a sight to see a big guy in armor learning to make ice cream sundaes to order, or refill a soda fountain. 

**Potts:** So more and more ingredients are being sourced from Asgard itself, things like meat, flour, potatoes and milk. We pay for them with a combination of silver and synthetic gemstones, which are in turn paid for by the sales on Earth of images and stories of the dragons that benefit from the gold we make. 

**Stark:** I especially like those calendars with the pictures of Steve, Thor and Reggie going skinny dipping. Very tasteful. How did you talk them into that shoot, anyway, Darce? 

**Lewis:** Trade secret. 

(Asgard: a shot of the capital, tall golden spires shining.) 

**Thor Odinson:** We have, after long last, taken the first steps towards making Asgard safer for dragons. The Allfather has declared hunting dragons illegal in the unclaimed wilderness that the creatures inhabit. But many will not abide by this law, and dragons may still venture onto Aesir land, where it is any citizen's right to defend their property by slaying that dragon. Hostilities will not end here. Our two races see each other as enemies, and have for far too long to be easily swayed in that belief. 

**Lewis:** Captain America has made it his new mission to foster peace between the races, but it is an uphill battle. Just because a dragon will talk to us, doesn't mean they have any intention of dealing with the Aesir. 

(Asgard: Steve Rogers stands outside a cave. A grey and red dragon leans its head out of the opening, looking at him.) 

**the dragon Felgunnar (dubbed):** The apples are worse than no solution, as long as they are controlled by the Aesir. 

**Steve Rogers:** So you'll accept help from us, from humans, but not from the residents of your own world? Why? 

**Felgunnar:** I wouldn't accept the Aesir's apples if they brought them on a solid sapphire platter. I won't be dependent on them. They'll only change their minds, remember that Aesir and dragons are natural enemies. We can never afford to trust them, never afford to give up our hoards for anything less than blood. 

**Lewis:** We can only hope to prove to both races that things can and do change, that things that once seemed impossible happen every day. And we've already begun with that. 

(Asgard: a violet dragon in flight, with a pink speck on its back. The next shot zooms in to show Daire Rogers strapped securely in place, grinning gleefully.) 

**Peter Parker:** There's so much we don't know about the ecosystem of Asgard, things that maybe the Aesir knew once and then forgot. There's a whole new world of creatures to figure out, how they tick and what they're capable of. 

(New York: Peter's room in Stark Tower, with a couple of old plastic dinosaurs perched on the desk behind him.) 

**Parker:** It's a huge opportunity, there's so much about it that's cool, and super exciting. It's like we've been given a second chance to see dinosaurs living and breathing, except dragons are capable of so much more, and if we lost that chance because we didn't do everything we could to save them from being hunted, the way animals here have been, it would just be unbelievably stupid. So I really hope that we can figure out a way to make this better. 

(Asgard: Hallkatla is overseeing her three smaller dragons as they stretch their wings and take off clumsily. She makes pointed comments at them, then demonstrates her own takeoff.) 

**Lewis:** Dragons are thinking creatures, and they have just as much of a right as we or the Aesir do to exist and live their lives. We're going to make that easier for them, no matter how much it takes. Not just because that's what heroes do, but because that's what humans do. 

**Beds for Dragons**


End file.
